Illinois

Federal judge questions ‘move afoot’ to encourage arguments by junior lawyers

Federal judges who encourage more junior lawyers to provide oral arguments could be interfering with the attorney-client relationship, according to a federal judge in Rockford, Illinois.

Jul 24, 2023 12:47 PM CDT

Lawyer’s RICO suit seeks to force fossil fuel companies to pay for hurricane damage

A small-town Illinois lawyer who once sued oil companies over contaminated land has turned her attention to climate change and the companies allegedly fueling the problem.

Jul 19, 2023 3:40 PM CDT

Illinois will make history as result of state supreme court decision on cash bail law

The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law eliminating cash bail. Illinois will now become the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail when the new law takes effect Sept. 18.

Jul 19, 2023 11:10 AM CDT

Lawyer blames generation gap for behavior that prompted courthouse-area ban and ethics complaint

A lawyer banned from a courthouse law library and cafeteria in Illinois, should be disciplined for his flirtatious and inappropriate behavior with staff members, according to an ethics complaint.

Jul 13, 2023 2:40 PM CDT

Federal judge’s ‘people like you’ comments don’t require sentence reversal, 7th Circuit says

A federal judge’s comments about “people like you” weren’t the kind of inflammatory remarks that would require resentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to unlawful gun possession by a felon, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Jul 6, 2023 10:31 AM CDT

Lawyer sentenced for hiding brother’s bankruptcy assets in attorney trust account

A suspended Chicago-area lawyer was sentenced Tuesday to 37 months in prison for using her attorney trust account to help her brother conceal more than $357,000 from creditors in bankruptcy.

Jun 30, 2023 9:01 AM CDT

Ex-judge agrees to disbarment after she is accused of stealing money from former Tuskegee Airman

A retired judge in Cook County, Illinois, has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to remove her from the attorney rolls after an ethics complaint accused her of stealing more than $246,000 from a Tuskegee Airman who had been married to her aunt.

Jun 30, 2023 8:41 AM CDT

Lawyer referred for possible discipline after suing judge who also referred her for discipline

Updated: A Chicago lawyer who attacked a judge’s rulings and her opponent’s opening statement in a complaint seeking 27 separate declaratory judgments—including a declaratory judgment that the issues weren’t frivolous—has been referred to a federal court’s executive committee for potential discipline.

Jun 28, 2023 2:21 PM CDT

Judge recuses after he is accused of declaring that Middle Eastern men are abusive

Updated: A judge in Cook County, Illinois, has agreed to step down from a case after a lawyer alleged he made statements that are “violent, discriminatory, racist and antagonistic” during an in-chambers discussion.

Jun 23, 2023 8:30 AM CDT

Former Quinn Emanuel partner becomes traffic court judge and ‘Zoom master’

A former top partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has left the lucrative practice of law to become a judge in Cook County, Illinois, making a little more than $215,000 per year.

Jun 20, 2023 2:38 PM CDT

Illinois uses grant money to encourage libraries not to ban books; law touted as first of its kind

Democrat Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation that uses grant money to encourage public libraries to refrain from banning books because of “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”

Jun 15, 2023 10:47 AM CDT

Food labeling lawyer’s ‘warehouse of complaints’ are ‘not fit for public consumption,’ judge says

A federal judge in Illinois who has a knack for criticizing lawyers with biting prose has turned his attention to a lawyer who battles food companies over their labeling.

May 31, 2023 3:21 PM CDT

Rights Work: UChicago constitutional law course brings together incarcerated youths, law students

The eight-week class is designed to give incarcerated youths an opportunity to consider their rights while exposing the law students to the younger students’ worldview through in-class discussions on topics that include freedom of speech, due process and reproductive freedom, along with weekly mentoring sessions.

May 31, 2023 8:12 AM CDT

Nearly 2,000 children were sexually abused by members of Catholic clergy and religious orders, Illinois AG’s investigation finds

At least 1,997 children were sexually abused by 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers in Illinois between 1950 and 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

May 24, 2023 12:11 PM CDT

Chicago’s refusal to allow ‘Hail Satan’ city council invocation violates First Amendment, suit says

Chicago has rebuffed requests by the Satanic Temple to deliver city council invocations for more than three years, violating the First Amendment in two ways, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month.

May 23, 2023 8:40 AM CDT